Ever After . . .

Chapter 15

~America~

It's nearly midnight. I can't get Maxon out of my head. I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling.

After a few minutes a rock hits my window. I sit up and look at the window. Another rock. I know it's Maxon.

I get up and walk to the window. I open the window as another rock hits it. The rock ends up hitting me in the face. Right on the nose. I grab my nose. Surprisingly it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.

Sure enough, looking down I see Maxon in the same black hoodie from the previous night. He smiles up at me, and I begin to climb down the side of the house. I meet Maxon on the ground. He's in black pants, and a hoodie. I'm in black shorts, and an old grey t-shirt. He motions to the treehouse. We walk over to it and climb in.

The night is silent and crisp. I shiver as I sit down in the far corner of the treehouse where we won't be spotted by anyone. Maxon must've seen this because he took off his black sweatshirt and gave it to me to put on.

"Thank you," I whisper.

I slip the sweatshirt over my head. It's still warm from when he had it on. He crawls over and sits next to me. I lean into him, and he wraps his arm around my shoulder. It was a comforting gesture. Together the two of us sat in silence in the treehouse.

"I'm leaving for Angeles tomorrow night," Maxon said breaking the silence.

"What?" I ask in a small shock. I thought they weren't supposed to leave until the day after tomorrow.

"My father announced it yesterday night that we were leaving. I think after he saw you he wanted to shorten our stay."

"Does he know you were with me today?"

"No. But my mom does. She was the one who actually encouraged me to come talk to you tonight."

I smile. "Your mother has always been nice to me. She was easy to relate to as well. Coming from a low caste like I did. I really liked her at my time in the palace. She was like a second mother to me."

"I know. She doesn't like to admit it, but she sometimes misses you at the palace. Kriss is alright, it's just there isn't much common ground between them."

I give a small sigh. Maxon looks down at me, and I look up at him. His brown eyes glitter in the small amount of moonlight that shines through the branches and leaves.

"What?" I ask him with a small giggle.

"Nothing. You just look so beautiful in this lighting. It makes me regret choosing Kriss all those years ago. If it'll make you feel better I can invite you to the coronation next week?"

I give a half hearted scoff. "And explain to my kids how and why I know the soon to be King of Illéa? No thank you."

"Are you ever going to tell them?"

"I don't want to unless I have to. Honestly it's kind of painful to look back on. Not because of what happened, but because of everything else that happened. The Rebel attacks, the drama, and everything in between. I don't want to have to explain it all to them."

I see something cross over Maxon's eyes. Then he shakes it off, and so do I.

We sit in silence for a little while longer before he looks back at me. He takes me by surprise when he slams his lips into mine.

I kiss him back deepening the kiss. Soon it becomes more than just a kiss. It becomes all of the years we missed because of a stupid lie, and a stupid decision. The sweatshirt pulls up taking my shirt with it. Maxon finds the bare spot of skin and places his hand on it.

I gasp because his hands are so cold. Then sink back into it.

It goes on for a few more minutes before we both pull away. We don't want to do anything we'll regret tonight. Our foreheads are together, and we're breathing hard.

We both smile before kissing one last time. He sits back down, and I crawl into a ball next to him. He wraps both of his arms around me. I can still feel their strength even through the sweatshirt. I wonder if his scars are still large on his back. Or have they gone away?

My question doesn't get answered, because Maxon begins to move, and says, "I better get going. My mother knows I'm gone, but the rest don't."

We crawl to the edge of the treehouse. I begin to speak before we climb out, "I wish you didn't have to go so soon. I will admit. I miss seeing you all of the time."

"I do too. But it has to be this way. I'm so sorry of what I did all those years ago."

"It's okay. The past is in the past now. There will be other times where I'll get to see you. I just know it."

We climb out of the treehouse, and stand at the base of the tree. "Do you want your sweatshirt back?" I ask him ready to take it off.

"No. It suits you. Until we meet again Miss America," Maxon says with a small bow.

I extend my hand, and say, "Until then." I give a curtsy as he kisses my hand. Then pulling on my hand he pulls me in for a kiss. I feel his hand move around before settling on my hip. We break the kiss and I smile at him.

I run back to the house. After scaling the side of the house, and climbing back in, I turn and look back at him. He tugs his ear, and I tug mine. She smiles before blowing a kiss my way. He turns and runs off into the night.

I smile, and close the window. After closing the curtains, I turn to face my bed. Instead I see the two people I didn't expect to see. Marissa and Lucas.